Tom Pincombe would like the city to cut down weeds along Veteran's Memorial Parkway because they block memorials meant to recognize veterans in London, Ont. on Monday August 6, 2018. Behind these weeds is the Living Guard of Honour & Memorial, a plot 108 trees recognizing India's participation in World War One. (Derek Ruttan/The London Free Press)

Royal Canadian Legion members in London are fed up with the weed-dotted condition of the city’s parkway named in honour of military veterans.

The Veterans Memorial Parkway — the roadway that serves as entrance into the Forest City — is being overrun by weeds and tall grass, according to legion members, making the monuments that line the parkway difficult to see.

“The shabby landscape care is hurtful to the veterans and insulting,” said Tom Pincombe, a member of the Royal Canadian Legion Perth Regiment Veterans Branch who has been campaigning to improve parkway conditions since October 2017.

“We need help to get the weeds cut, the grass cut and garbage picked up on a regular basis.”

Pincombe, who has been a member of the Royal Canadian Legion for about 20 years, said he has been in contact with the city many times about ensuring the area around the monuments are properly maintained.

He said he would like to see the grass and weeds cut from fence-to-fence so monuments are visible to people driving by on the parkway.

Pincombe also said he’s not the only one who feels this way, and said he has records of his conversations with several Legion members and Londoners who think the parkway should be better-maintained.

“Every one of those trees is planted in memory of a war veteran,” Pincombe said. “It should be maintained.”

An e-mail response from the city on behalf of Parks and Operations manager Dianna Clarke noted that “memorial features along the parkway have a monthly schedule that includes weeding and cutting the grass.”

However, the e-mail also noted that when the stretch of parkway was approved, there was direction to not cut the grass from fence-to-fence in order to have a “more naturalized approach — allowing for a meadow look along the edges.”

Pincombe noted that since this e-mail response was sent, a meeting has been scheduled between himself, Scott Stafford — managing director of Parks and Recreation — and Caspar Koevoets, the public-relations officer with Royal Canadian Legion Victory Branch and Commander of Zone A-6, which includes five Legion branches in Dorchester, Byron, Lambeth and London.

Koevoets said Legion members aren’t mad at the city, they’re just hoping to get some cooperation to help resolve this issue.

“It’s a gateway into the city for our visitors . . . it really shows that we care about our veterans,” Koevoets said. “But sometimes you can hardly see the memorial stones . . . right now, some spots look like they need a rescue operation.”

Koevoets said as a veterans organization, the Legion is willing to do its part to help solve this problem with fundraising and finding volunteers. But he noted that many of the Legion members are senior citizens who are incapable of going out and cutting the grass themselves.

“We’re hoping for some consistency,” Koevoets said. “We’d like to have some sort of maintenance plan.”

Pincombe said he has been reaching out to city staffers on a consistent basis, to no avail, but hopes something will come out of the upcoming meeting with Stafford. He said he has received support from Legions in the area, as well as other veterans organizations in London, such as the Army, Navy and Airforce Veterans in Canada.

“We must get improvements made to the Veterans Memorial Parkway,” Pincombe said. “The bare minimum is being done right now.”